🎶 Festival Rundown: Late 2025 Edition — Coastal Beats, Bass & Community Rituals
From boardwalk rock to bass forests to soulful forest echoes, this lineup closes the year with texture, grit, and heart. Dive into these five festivals to add to your fall checklist.
1. Oceans Calling Festival 2025
Venue: Ocean City, Maryland (Boardwalk & Ocean City Inlet)
Dates & Gates: September 26–28 • Gates open Noon – 11pm each day
Vibe & Venue
Oceans Calling is a beachside celebration where salt air, boardwalk lights, and surfside sound waves merge. The festival stretches across the classic Ocean City Boardwalk and inlet stages, turning the shoreline into a musical playground. Expect midday rock and indie sets with the Atlantic breeze mixing into the melody.
Lineup Highlights
Headliners: Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Weezer
Supporting acts: Vampire Weekend, Noah Kahan, Lenny Kravitz, Modest Mouse, Good Charlotte, The Black Crowes, Nelly, Cake, The Fray, Collective Soul, En Vogue & more.
Unique Perks
Culinary Edge: Live cooking demos by celebrity chefs like Robert Irvine, Anne Burrell, and the Voltaggio brothers.
Boardwalk Integration: Between musical sets, festivalgoers can wander rides, games, and traditional boardwalk fun (Jolly Roger at the Pier is within grounds).
Multiple Ticket Tiers & Packages: GA, GA+ lounges, Platinum VIP, and hotel + festival bundles.
Insider Tip
To beat the tight crowds at peak sets, time your main stage visits early or late. Also, on one of the nights, growers tend to leave the beach walkways lighter—perfect for capturing silhouette shots of headliners against the ocean light.
Product Pick: Crowd Compass – keep tabs on your friends while you roam the beachside.
2. Rock the Locks Music Festival 2025
Venue: Big River Golf Course, Umatilla, Oregon
Dates & Gates: September 26–28 • Gates open 11am, music ends around 11pm each day
Vibe & Venue
Rock the Locks brings classic and alternative rock to Oregon’s east side, deep in scenic country, with a two-stage configuration on golf-course grounds and camping onsite. With river views and open sky, it’s equal parts nostalgic concert and rock-camp retreat.
Lineup Highlights
Headliners: Third Eye Blind, The All-American Rejects, Seether
Others: Enuff Z’Nuff, Ted Poley, Hillstomp, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Everyone Loves a Villain, Paralandra, Steven Adler, Black Veil Brides, Skillet, Fastlane & more.
Unique Perks
Onsite camping (RV or tent) with dry-camping setup.
Beer gardens, merchandise vendors, cashless option via FastBar.
All-ages event: family friendly, local food vendors, and community engagement.
Insider Tip
Pick camp spots near stage walkways for quicker access during set changes. Also, front-left zones often offer great stageside views with less crush than dead center.
Product Pick: Baja Blanket – comfy for early sets or mellow afternoon viewing.
3. Same Same But Different Festival 2025
Venue: Lake Perris State Park, Perris, California
Dates & Gates: September 26–28 • Gates open at 11am Thursday and 10am on Friday, Saturday + Sunday.
Vibe & Venue
SSBD blends bass-heavy music with wellness, art, and nature. Think forested lakeshore raves, sunrise sets, yoga on paddleboards, and community-driven creative zones. It’s a festival that lets you dance, breathe, and reset, all in one.
Lineup Highlights
Headliners: CloZee, Dr. Fresch, Zeds Dead, LSDREAM
Also Performing: Orenda, Marti Marti & The Motorcade, TCHiLT, Auracle, McWavy, PANDO!, BIG MILK, Sam Blacky, SoDown & more.
Unique Perks
Wellness mixed into beats: yoga sessions, arts & crafts workshops, nature integration.
Sunrise sets by the lake and silent-space zones for recharge spa moments.
Smaller crowd scale ensures you’ll feel part of the community, not lost in pulsing masses.
Insider Tip
If you want that perfect balance between front-row bass and meditative space, aim mid-stage near forest edge. Bring extra layers because desert nights dip fast.
Product Pick: Mr. B’s EARPEACE Hi-Fi Earplugs – Keep your ears protected without muffling the sound quality with our favorite hi-fidelity earplugs
4. Holy Smokes! Festival 2025
Venue: Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, Garrettsville, OH
Dates & Gates: September 26 – 28 • Gates open Friday at 10:00 AM, runs through Sunday 12:00 PM (camping included)
Vibe & Venue
Nestled in the rugged terrain of Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, Holy Smokes! is the kind of festival where music, art, and mystery collide under a canopy of forest and stone. This Ohio edition leans into the surreal: expect LED-lit trails, interactive installations, and “Upside Down” vibes that blur the line between reality and the unexpected. By day, the quarry’s rock faces echo with grooves and bass; by night, deep woods and stage lights weave a dreamlike landscape.
Camping is a core part of the experience. Swim in the quarry, gather around fires, and wander between stages along winding paths. The terrain is varied: forested glades, stone ledges, meadow zones. Be ready to hike a bit, but reward is everywhere.
Lineup Highlights
Holy Smokes! brings a rich mix of jam, electronic, reggae, and hip-hop with both national and regional flavor. Headliners and highlights include:
Andy Frasco & The U.N. (double sets)
Little Stranger (double sets)
Big Something
Kash’d Out
Damn Skippy, Float Like A Buffalo, The Palmer Squares, Jarv, Long Miles, Sneezy
Add to that surprise guest sets in the woods, meaning lineups may shift as the festival deepens into the weekend.
Unique Perks
Immersive “Stranger Days” Theme: The festival leans into the weird and uncanny. Expect installations, LED woods, and thematic photo arenas that feel like stepping into another dimension.
Quarry Access + Water Features: Not many fests let you swim between sets in a quarry. This one does. Shoreline stages, cliff-edge views, and natural water breaks make for unique festival memories.
Tight-Knit Community Vibe: As a newer festival, Holy Smokes! leans small enough to feel like everyone’s your neighbor. That means late-night campfire jams, impromptu sets, and meaningful moments are more likely.
Food + Wellness + Art: Expect food trucks, craft vendors, wellness zones, and experiential art scattered all over the grounds.
Insider Tip
Arrive Early: Friday morning entries give you the best shot at premium camping zones near the quarry or fire pits.
Plan for Terrain: Sturdy shoes are a must, trails between stages can be rocky and uneven.
Mind the Water: After swims or heavy sets, keep a towel and dry clothes handy, quarries get damp and cold at night.
Stay Open to Surprise Sets: Some of the best moments at Holy Smokes! happen off the main stage. Wander late, listen quietly, and let the woods surprise you.
Layer Up: Temperature swings happen fast in the forest. Pack light layers and be ready to shift between sun, shade, and nighttime chill.
Product Pick: Hydration Pack – essential for trekking between stages, cooling off at the quarry, and staying energized through late-night sets.
5. All Things Go Music Festival 2025
Venue: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
Dates & Gates: September 26–28 • Gates open at 3pm Friday, and 11am Saturday + Sunday. Music goes until around 11pm each day.
Lineup Highlights
Noah Kahan, The Marías, The Last Dinner Party headlining Friday; Lucy Dacus, Clairo, Faye Webster on Saturday; Doechii, Kesha, Djo on Sunday, plus a stacked roster of artists like Sharon Van Etten, Lucius, Joy Oladokun, The Backseat Lovers, Bartees Strange, Role Model, and more.
Unique Perks / Features:
• Genre-spanning curation: indie, pop, rap, experimental all on the same weekend.
• Livestream via Amazon Music (Prime Video & Twitch) – you can join remotely.
• Multiple ticket tiers: General Admission, VIP / All Access with early entry, fast lanes, private merch shopping.
• No camping (festival is at a concert venue) – attendees rely on nearby lodging, shuttles, etc.
Insider Tips:
• Because there’s no camping, plan your lodging or shuttle logistics in advance.
• Be there for early and late sets, some of the indie acts you discover will stick with you longer than the headliners.
• Use the livestream as backup, if something clashes you can catch it online.
Product Pick: Clutchloop – perfect for keeping your phone secure while moving between stages at Merriweather.
🏁 Final Waves
This round of festivals spans coastal rock, nostalgic alt rock, ethereal bass journeys, faith-powered rap showcases, and conceptual electronic flow. Whether you’re seeking surf-side sing-alongs, late-night psytrance, or community-charged worship ciphers, there’s a fest here calling your name.
Let me know which festival(s) you want me to expand into full-length standalone articles—or if you want a stylized intro, captions, or merch-feature suggestions next. Fest on!
